Topics

Curriculum

Making a Watershed!

This lesson outline and PowerPoint guide you and your students through learning about watersheds by making your own! Students will make their own landscape and hypothesize where water and land are on their landscape. They can add places of human activity and predict what will happen to their watershed when it "rains"! This is a fun, short activity that can be extended to emphasize key ideas. The Enviroscape from the Great Lakes Aquarium is optional but very useful for this lesson!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
1. The Great Lakes, bodies of fresh water with many features, are connected to each other and to the world ocean.2. Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed.4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Mapping Your Place

Students will construct a large map of a place of their choosing. This place will be divided into smaller sections using a string/flag grid system. Each student will take their time to create a map of one portion of the grid to be put together into a larger whole.

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
2. Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed.4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Idiom Lesson

Students will interpret and observe the natural world using figurative language. Students will then create a nature idiom PowerPoint with complete sentences to discuss the origin and meaning of nature idioms.

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
8. The Great Lakes are socially, economically, and environmentally significant to the region, the nation and the planet.

Nature Nibble #1- April 6th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links document to open up a YouTube video to watch and some animal sounds to listen to before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #2 – April 13th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links document to open up a YouTube video from Ms. Deanna to watch before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #3 – April 20th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links document to open up a YouTube video from Alyssa to watch before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #4 – April 27th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble curriculum document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links supporting file to open up a YouTube video from Melissa and Ryan to watch before you go outside. There is also some links to fun bird sounds to check out too! Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them on your Nature Nibble sheet or in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #5 – May 4th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble curriculum document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links supporting file to open up a YouTube video from Alyssa to watch before you go outside. There is also some links to fun frog sounds to check out too! Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them on your Nature Nibble sheet or in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #6 – May 11th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble curriculum document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links supporting file to open up a YouTube video from Deanna and Alyssa to watch before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them on your Nature Nibble sheet or in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #7 – May 18th

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble curriculum document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links supporting file to open up a YouTube video from our SPECIAL GUEST HOST to watch before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them on your Nature Nibble sheet or in your journal. Get out there and have fun!

Downloads:

Details

Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.